Posts Tagged ‘Health’
Cancer Risks from Nuclear Too Expensive To Study
A pilot study to determine whether any cancer risks are associated with living near nuclear facilities has been cancelled due to lack of funding.
Read MoreAppalachian Millennials and social media in Wyoming County
Guest Contributor Donald Welch: The Rural Appalachian Improvement League encourages plenty of groups to visit the Mullens, W.Va., area to volunteer. But, as an organization focused on sustainability and creating social change in southern West Virginia, the group also uses social media to engage youth and create opportunities for local residents.
Read MoreThank God for our Kentucky newspapers
Local newspapers in Kentucky have helped expose state regulators’ lax treatment of industry, most recently in the form of a secretive deal stuck with an oil company responsible for polluting drinking water supplies. But sadly, Kentucky’s politicians and agencies aren’t shy in revealing whose interests they truly serve either.
Read MoreCitizen stories counter coal industry deception
Citizens and clean water advocates used a series of hearings on the proposed Stream Protection Rule to demand improvements to the draft version and call out state agencies for repeatedly failing to enforce regulations already on the books. Coal industry representatives, on the other hand, relied on “war on coal” rhetoric and deception to rally against the rule.
Read MoreDENR is a “BOOR”
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is acting like–to use its own term–a “bureaucratic object of resistance.” The agency’s creative interpretation of its mission statement is just one reflection of the McCrory administration’s broader hostility to the notion that public servants have a responsibility to protect the natural resources and therefore the public health and welfare of the Tar Heel state.
Read MoreVIDEO: “Contaminated, But Smart!”- Duke Energy’s New Coal Ash Assessment
On Monday evening, Duke Energy released the executive statement from its study assessing groundwater contamination at two of its largest coal ash sites in North Carolina. Unsurprisingly, Duke Energy’s findings suggest it is not responsible for the contamination found in the drinking water wells of over 200 households within 1,000 feet of the company’s coal ash dumps.
Read MorePeculiar Patriot Coal deal raises questions
What would a health care executive-turned-environmentalist want with the dying business of mining coal? That’s the question some are asking after the announcement that a Virginia environmentalist plans to acquire assets, and assume around $400 million in liabilities, from recently-bankrupt Patriot Coal.
Read MorePredictable politics giving way to popular support for POWER+
In Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, cities and counties with long histories of coal mining are advocating for the POWER+ Plan, a federal budget initiative proposed by the White House to build a more diverse economy in the communities hardest hit by the regional coal industry’s decline. They deserve to be heard.
Read MoreU.S. coal giant Alpha Natural Resources files for bankruptcy
Alpha Natural Resources, one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States and a big player in the Appalachian coal market, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday of this week, blaming “an unprecedented period of distress with increased competition from natural gas, an oversupply in the global coal market, historically low prices due to weaker international and domestic economies, and increasing government regulation that has pushed electric utilities to transition away from coal-fired power plants.
Read MoreCommunity Rallies Around Need for Energy Efficiency in the High Country
Over 1,000 residents support greater energy efficiency investments to grow economy, lower energy costs CONTACT: Rory McIlmoil, Energy Policy Director, rory@appvoices.org Sarah Kellogg, North Carolina Field Organizer, sarah@appvoices.org (828) 262-1500 Blue Ridge Electric fact sheet (PDF) Photos by Amy Adams, Appalachian Voices Boone, N.C. — More than thirty local residents, service organizations and local government…
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